Because the 6'10" starting center doesn't or is incapable of leaving his feet and playing above the rim.
This season is well on its way to huge disappointment like last year (those there was an excuse last year). If that ends up being the case, I'm only giving Groce one more year tops to show some promise.

I would think it is a good thing. I haven't been able to find much in that regard and there is no time frame to announce anything. If some were looking to transfer (or at least someone of note), I think we would have heard about it, considering GT was pretty quick to report Kostelac was in the transfer portal.
I did find someone tweet a few days ago that an unnamed player was looking to transfer, but they were looking for a 1AA/D2 landing spot, so I can't imagine its someone we would be upset about.

They are working to make other arrangements (game in Chattanooga) in order to avoid paying that buyout. Just because being hired before early signing day didn't result in any early signing day commits, that doesn't mean it was a waste. Additional time to build relationships with recruits who might sign in Feb, get staff in place, and build relationship with the current players is very valuable. Waiting until 1/1, while maybe financially savvy, would have likely been a bad move in a number of ways (perception and recruiting).